What it's all about...

I'm a 39 year old wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt & friend. That should tell you who I'll be writing about most of the time.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Things to think about...

Well first of all, no World Series tickets for us. We tried for over an hour, but no go. We're disappointed, but we tried our best. All the home games sold out in less then 3 hours. So we'll watch them from home and cheer on the Rockies from there. Did I just say that?? Thank god it's almost over and I can get back to being my neutral self.My physical yesterday went well, I guess. The best part was that my eyesight is perfect! I always worry about this because both of my parents wear glasses and I feel like it's just a matter of time until it's my turn. Luckily, the time has not arrived yet. I had blood drawn to test all the normals, ie cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroid, etc. I had a Tetanus Booster shot. Here were my concerns and what the doc said:Achy Knees - My knees have given me problems sporadically throughout the last 10 years or so. Usually they bothered me the most when I was sitting in a tight spot (in concert seats, theater seats, restaurant seats) and couldn't get up or stretch them out. I had them x-rayed when it first started and the dr recommended stretches/exercises. Well, I did that for a couple of months and then stopped. In the last 6-9 months it has gotten considerably worse. It is almost unbearable in those small spaces and now after sitting for a while (sometimes as short as 20-30 minutes) it hurts standing up. Doctor's Advice - He sent me for complete view x-rays on both knees and will call me when he gets the results. He hopes it's just a case of not enough movement and normal wear and tear. It is probably exacerbated by the extra weight I carry. It could be early stage osteo-arthritis. I can't wait to get this follow-up call.Fatigue - I am tired almost constantly. I sleep 6-7 hours almost every night and can't imagine that I'd need more. I'm only 33! I try to eat some protein every 3 hours, in case it's a case of my blood sugar dropping but that doesn't seem to be helping. It is not uncommon that I drive to work and/or home from work fighting to keep my eyes open - I am that sleepy. I doze off at my desk in the afternoons more often then I care to admit. Doctor's Opinion - The cause for this could show up in my blood work. He asked if I snore. Now a year ago I would have said no. But in the last year Shell has mentioned more than once that she has heard me snoring. This could be a sign of sleep apnea, which would also explain being tired so much. If the bloodwork comes back normal, he wants to try an apnea machine to see what it says.Breathlessness - I am finding myself out of breath with my heart beating like crazy after doing things that never caused it before. I can't walk from my basement to the 2 floor of my house without getting winded enough that I can't carry on a conversation. Grocery shopping leaves me out of breath, sometimes just walking to and from my car at work does it. Doctor's Opinion - My heart was beating fast for the dr, he even checked it twice to confirm. See below.Doctor's Concerns and Opinions: My blood pressure was high - checked twice to confirm. I have to have it checked again in about 3-4 weeks to see if it is the same.The bloodwork could possibly give us a clue to some if not all of the issues above. In my opinion, losing weight and exercise would probably solve all of them. My wonderful doctor didn't once say that losing weight would "fix" anything, but it can't hurt overall. I MUST get some exercise in every day, and since we don't know what is going on with my BP and heart and knees, he insisted that I do just 10 minutes a day of very low impact cardio (walking). After 4 weeks, I am to go back and see what has changed. If I am consistently doing the walking and nothing else is going on, he expects that alone could bring my heartrate and blood pressure in normal ranges, my breathlessness should abate, I might sleep more soundly at night eliminating the fatigue and my knees might feel better too.So, I think this might be the wake-up call I've been waiting for. I chalked the achy knees and breathlessness to being overweight. But the high blood pressure and heartrate is concerning. I have to do this. The only recommendation he made regarding my eating habits, was to limit my portion sizes and try to incorporate protein in every meal. I can do that!

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Me

I grew up in Orange County, CA. My wife and I have been together since 1992, have lived in Colorado since 1995. Our twins were born in 1998. I am a lesbian wife & mom just living my life and writing about it here.